November 17, 2015
I was trying to finish shopping at the south Seattle Costco on Fourth Avenue, and be out by 6:30, since I had a 7 pm Board/staff/ volunteer meeting at the Metaphysical Library in Ballard. The south end of the Alaskan Way Viaduct has been moved around, and changed a lot in the past few years, as the City and State are digging that gawd-awful tunnel, and I missed the on-ramp a few times.
I turned onto what I thought was the on-ramp, and then decided it was wrong, and made a quick u-turn (I had only gone a few feet, and there was no other traffic, so it was safe, although if a cop had seen me, he might have given me a ticket). I drove a few feet further and turned onto another on-ramp. I saw a guy in a bicycle pedaling up the on-ramp ahead of me, and gave him wide berth. As I got to the top of the on-ramp, there was a STOP sign. The north-bound lane was blocked off, as was the west side. Since I was heading north to Ballard, I knew this was wrong. Then I saw the guy on the bicycle. He signaled me to lower my window, which I did. He was wearing a yellow vest, like people do when they are working around traffic, to increase the likelihood they will be spotted and not hit.
He asked where I was going, and I told him Ballard, I was trying to get on the Viaduct. He said he saw me make the U-turn below, and that that was the correct ramp. I thanked him, and then he asked if my first name had an “A” or a “Y” in it. I said, “Yes, my first name is Margaret” and then he asked if it would be OK if he prayed for me. After a bit of a head-bounce, I said, “Sure! I can use all the prayers I can get!” and he started praying to his Heavenly Father, asking for blessings for me and that my way be helped. It was a bit more flowery and wordy than that, but that was the gist, and I was thankful for it. Then he said that Christmas was a big deal for me, and that I would get a wonderful treat. He then said that words and books are important to me, and that was tied in with the treat. Or something, He was kind of vague, and I was kind of surprised, and some of my attention was on the weirdness of the situation, instead of totally focused on him, which it should have been, in order for me to really understand what he was saying.
So it looks like maybe the Library will get a good present this year. I hope so!
